Transcript
Mastodon posts by @trenchworms@eldritch.cafe:
super revealing of the misogyny inherent to the space that “AI assistants” stopped being given feminine-coded names the moment tech chuds thought they were developing higher levels of autonomy
“i TELL Alexa what to do. i COLLABROATE with Chudbot. i will not reflect on this hierarchy at all.”
In my experience, GPS voices also tend to be feminine by default.
I think it’s less true now than it once was, but I remembering hearing somewhere that pre-recorded messages on trains/subways/in stations tend to use feminine voices for information, and masculine voices for instructions.
There are definitely still times on the London Underground where you’ll hear announcements that switch in the middle, and that does usually seem to be the pattern.
(I realise this doesn’t really apply to GPSes, but your comment is what reminded me, so. 😅)
Defs true for NSW, Australia railways
Man says “smoking is not permitted”, woman says “the next station is foo”
I first noticed as a child and it is one of the first times I remember thinking that society wants women to be servile.
It has been studied that people respond better for gendered voices in those contexts, but yeah that’s probably because it’s been preprogrammed into people. It’s weird when you notice it in the wild.
Not preprogrammed, because patriarchy
Yeah sorry I wasn’t clear enough, when I say preprogrammed I don’t mean innate human behaviour, I mean societal conditioning over the entire lifespan of a person.
Ah, fair enough.
I had my hackles up 'cause some people like pretend that gender roles/perception are somehow encoded in our DNA
Nah you good, I see how you got there.
Dunno if this is still the case, but this was definitely true of the subway system in NYC when I lived there.
Female voice: the next stop is [x] street
Male voice: stand clear of the closing doors!
Even back in 1997.